Filippo Neri zweeft tijdens het opdragen van de mis 1630 - 1641

Curator: Here we have "Filippo Neri Zweeft Tijdens Het Opdragen Van De Mis," or, "Filippo Neri floats during the Offering of the Mass" by Luca Ciamberlano, dating from around 1630 to 1641. It's an engraving, currently residing here at the Rijksmuseum. Editor: Well, the first thing that strikes me is this… theatricality. All that radiant light flooding the scene—it’s like divine spotlighting. Dramatic, wouldn't you say? And almost feverish? Curator: The Baroque does love its drama, doesn't it? This engraving, in the Italian Renaissance style, captures a key moment: Filippo Neri, a saint known for his ecstatic experiences, levitating during Mass. It’s trying to visually represent religious fervor. Editor: That angel holding him! I hadn’t noticed him at first. He makes it a party—almost like a sacred burlesque. It's the levitation combined with the reactions of the kneeling crowd—a wonderfully weird mixture of awe and awkwardness. Is everyone convinced by this miracle or just trying to seem devout? Curator: The reactions are telling, aren’t they? Ciamberlano wants to tap into that potent blend of the miraculous and the everyday. He offers us history-painting filtered through an intensely subjective religious lens. But more broadly it speaks to how institutions will seek to give validation for individuals who seek sainthood. Editor: I find the precision so moving— the very tight cross hatching indicating tone— the fineness is an act of devotion. But how did this depiction impact the public's role within these saintly displays of miracle? Does it enhance participation or make an isolating viewing? Curator: Well, depictions such as these were key tools used to encourage the religious. They’re potent propaganda! So yes, I do believe that it works toward mass devotion and enhances public participation! Editor: I think looking at this, what I really take away, in a visceral way, is that blend of intense spirituality and pure spectacle, rendered with an utterly meticulous, obsessive level of detail. The work as devotion on every level. Curator: And for me, it’s the tension between the supposed transcendence and the very earthly concerns of image-making and institutional authority that make this work so compelling to consider! It provides a tangible record of its complex era.